Feathered hair contest: An excellent start

The entries for My Feathered Hair: The Contest have been epic so far. Thanks so much for your contributions. The rules are here. Remember that the deadline for this back-to-school themed contest is Wednesday. And did I mention there will be prizes? I’ll be giving away a choice of classic television DVD sets to the winners — hoping that in the spirit of the contest you pick “Simon and Simon.”

Making a strong case for victory early is Sam H., who sent me this excellent entry last week. Below is his e-mail in its entirety — e-mails longer than a few sentences may be edited once this gets transferred to slideshow format.

Hey Peter,

Attached are two family photos I’m submitting for the feathered hair contest. I have received permission from all interested parties to submit these. Here’s a brief rundown of each photo:

TuffGuys: This photo was the product of an ill-fated hairstyling/photo session my older brother, Ben, and I were duped into by our big sister to relieve the boredom brought on by a major winter storm in December of 1982. The storm had knocked out power in our Alameda neighborhood for what seemed like most of the night and when we finally got it back, my sister talked us into letting her “style” our hair.

Suckers that we were, we gave her carte blanche with a blow dryer and some Aqua Net and the hairdos you see here were the result. I’m guessing she went through at least a few cans of Aqua Net to try and feather/tame our hair as we both have pretty thick, unruly, heads of hair. While she may have fallen short in terms of achieving a truly feathered coiff on either of us (mine looks like it was styled in a wind tunnel or by the storm itself), I think her attempt still deserves consideration for the contest. It’s not just the hair helmets that made this shot an instant classic, but the pouty coolness we’re trying to exude, not to mention our gear (note my brother’s pink “I Warmed My Buns on Truckee Surplus’ Wood Stove” ringer t-shirt).

Courtesy Sam H.

Jubacca This photo was culled from a seemingly endless trove of late 70’s/early 80’s feathered hair pictures of my sister, Julie (hence the file name, a play on her nickname “Juju” and the Wookie-like appearance of her feathered hair at times. NOT antisemitic in any way.). I thought it was one of her school pics, but turns out my parents hired a photographer to come to the house for a private session. Guess they wanted to make sure her feathered mane was given the undivided attention it deserved, free of the distractions that photographer’s face when shooting school photos. I’d put the year at 1979.

Can’t wait to see the contest results. I’m guessin’ there’s no shortage of hilarious shots to choose from for you.

-Sam H.

Excellent work, Sam! You forgot to give Ben bonus points for tucking the T-shirt into high-waist white jeans. I’m also liking the 1970s rippled texturing on the Jubacca photo. Classy! It’s like her feathered hair is floating in the middle of a shimmering lake.

I’m looking forward to posting the rest of the entries. Remember, you have until Wednesday to send your photos. The original post and rules are here. As winners of our previous contests have learned, you don;t need hair as awesome as this to win. Feathered hair disasters also have a chance at victory, provided the photo or back story is interesting.

PETER HARTLAUB is the pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and founder of this parenting blog, which admittedly sometimes often has nothing to do with parenting. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/peterhartlaub. Your questions answered on VYou at www.vyou.com/peterhartlaub.